1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to panoramic photograph technology and, more particularly, to a panorama photography method and an apparatus that informs a user of an optimum photographing position for the next photograph when capturing in succession several photographs of adjacent scenes to obtain a combined panorama photograph.
2. Description of the Related Art
Panoramic photography is a style of photography that aims to create images with exceptionally wide fields of view. Modern digital camera technology allows continuously capturing multiple images around 360 degrees for a single wide image. The principle of the panoramic photography is to stitch together widthwise or lengthwise multiple photographs, each of which forms a segment of the panorama. Each photograph is obtained by rotation of a camera at regular angles, and captures a scene which partially overlaps the scenes of adjacent photographs. Then these photographs automatically combine into a single panoramic photograph through a proper program in a personal computer. A significant point of the panoramic photography is to align overlapping images so as to exactly combine them.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are example views that illustrate a conventional panorama photography method. If a user takes two adjacent photographs from left to right, FIG. 1A represents a previously captured image 10 (hereinafter, a first image) and FIG. 1B represents a preview image 20 for the next image (hereinafter, a second image) to be captured.
After the first image 10 is captured, the preview image 20 is offered in advance to assist a user in capturing the second image. At this time, a partial section 12 of the first image 10 is also offered, partly covering the preview image 20. This section 12 of the first image 10 may help a user to exactly capture the second image, thus being called a guide image.
The guide image 12 on the preview image 20 is useful to a user in choosing an exact photographing position for capturing the second image. However, such use of the guide image 12 may often inconvenience the user. That is to say, since a user has no choice but to depend on eye measurement, it may be difficult for a user to find an optimum photographing position.